GUNTHER Retains WWE Intercontinental Championship Against Chad Gable On RAW
GUNTHER had one of his toughest challengers yet in the form of Chad Gable, but he still managed to retain his title, albeit in different fashion from his previous victories.
Last week, Chad Gable earned the right to challenge for the Intercontinental Championship and that match took place on the August 21st edition of RAW.
It was a competitive back-and-forth match that saw both men gain control at various points. GUNTHER controlled the early portion of the match until Gable countered with a Minoru Suzuki-style hanging armbreaker over the top rope.
After that, the match became much more even with both men reversing each other with suplexes, stiff strikes, and last-second maneuvers. Gable started getting serious momentum with such moves as a Backdrop suplex, a dragon screw/ankle lock combo, and a deadlift German suplex.
However, Gable’s momentum ended when he went for a moonsault but the champion pushed him to the floor.
The referee began counting Gable out, but then GUNTHER decided to inflict more punishment at ringside. GUNTHER hit one brutal chop after another, but doing so cost him because Gable ducked a chop and GUNTHER hit his hand on the ringpost with full force.
Seconds later, Gable hit a German suplex over a piece of barricade and then dashed into the ring to make it in before the referee’s count of ten In doing so, Chad Gable became the first person to beat Der Ringgeneral one-on-one since GUNTHER came up to the main roster.
GUNTHER retains his Intercontinental Championship via technicality
But because the match was deemed a win via count-out, the title didn’t change hands and the man formerly known as WALTER remains Intercontinental Champion.
By retaining here, even if via count-out, the current champion inches ever closer to surpassing the 454-day record currently held by The Honky Tonk Man. As of this writing he has been Intercontinental Champion for 437 days.